Duke Energy Bid Escalates
A Battle for Chilean Utility

By

Kathryn Kranhold Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated April 19, 1999 12:01 a.m. ET

The battle for control of the Chilean electric company, Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA, escalated with an increased offer of $3 billion from Duke Energy Corp., setting the stage for a showdown this week between the U.S. energy company and the Spanish utility Endesa SA.

Shareholders of Empresa Nacional, or Endesa Chile, will have until Thursday to decide whether to tender shares with Duke, Charlotte, N.C., or with Endesa Spain, which indirectly owns 25.3% of Endesa Chile through majority ownership and control of the...